Hamas chief meets Iran’s Supreme Leader

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Feb. 20 – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told senior officials from the radical Palestinian group Hamas in Tehran on Monday that the group’s victory in the recent Palestinian elections was due to their “jihad” against the “Zionist regime”. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Feb. 20 – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told senior officials from the radical Palestinian group Hamas in Tehran on Monday that the group’s victory in the recent Palestinian elections was due to their “jihad” against the “Zionist regime”.

“When all the doors seemed closed on them, the Palestinian people and resistance groups were not disappointed and did not lose hope. They continued their jihad and in the end we are witnessing the realisation of God’s promises one after the other. After the liberation of Gaza, Hamas became victorious which came as a shock to everyone”, Khamenei, told Hamas political bureau chief Khalid Mash’al, the news agency Fars, run by the Office of the Supreme Leader, reported.

He described Hamas’ victory as the choice of resistance against the “Zionist regime”.

He said that the decision by Hamas not to recognise the state of Israel was “very principled and the only way for success”.

In January, while in Damascus, hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Mash’al, “If the occupiers stay on even one inch of Palestinian soil, the goal of Palestine will not be realised”.

“We must not let our guard down now for even one moment against the enemies’ plots. Belittling the goal of Palestine is a great plot that the enemies are after”, he said.

In December, Mash’al met and held talks with Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran. During the meeting, Khamenei dismissed the United States-backed roadmap to peace in the Middle East and called for “resistance” against the state of Israel as the only path to “liberation” in the troubled region.

“The only way to ensure the liberation of Palestine and the future of its people is continued resistance along with force, unity, and adherence to Islam’s statutes”, Khamenei said.

“Experience of the past 50 years shows that surrender the face of the Zionist occupiers and negotiations with them will only make the situation worse”, the Supreme Leader added.

He said that he hoped that “Palestinian resistance groups” would force the “occupiers” out of Jerusalem.

“Despite its false superficial show of force, the United States has been met with defeat in the Middle East and is in the process of retreating. Palestinian people and resistance groups must take this situation into consideration and vigilantly continue in their path of Jihad”, Khamenei added.